motor vehicle crash

Dr. Halbert received Advanced Certification from the Spine Research Institute of San Diego, a research organization founded in 1984 by Arthur C. Croft, DC, MS, MPH. The institute is committed to providing research and education in the area of spinal health and injury prevention relating to clinical conditions arising out of motor vehicle trauma. They focus especially on the most common conditions which impose the greatest public health burden, including the cervical spine injuries and brain injury that result from whiplash trauma.

The institute has conducted various types of car-to-car crash testing, using human subjects and crash test dummies, to gain insight into occupant-vehicle interactions with a variety of goals, including testing and validation of special rear impact dummy (RID) anthropometric test devices, automobile crash reconstruction methodologies, and to gain a better understanding as to how changes in vehicle construction and enhanced public motor vehicle safety knowledge might help to reduce the current pandemic of whiplash and mild traumatic brain injury. In addition to their own research, they constantly monitor and synthesize the world literature, as well as provide educational seminars and printed materials.

Whiplash trauma

Since the 1980s, whiplash injuries have been on the rise worldwide, largely as a result of structural changes and increased fleet stiffness brought about by the New Car Assessment Program and stiffer seat back requirements. Manufacturers, meanwhile, have demonstrated a general lack of interest in prevention strategies when it comes to whiplash injury, with a few notable exceptions.

Today, nearly 3 million whiplash injuries occur every year in the U.S., almost half of which will result in long-term or permanent pain or disability. Motor vehicle crashes are also the largest cause of brain injury in the U.S. Combined, these two conditions burden society with over $200 billion in cost annually. This doleful clinical outcome is largely a reflection of the poorly understood nature of the condition and the common—but misguided—advice provided by most doctors and hospital staff.

Any controversy about the occurrence, severity, and significant chance of lasting effects from whiplash trauma—even from low speed impacts—is largely manufactured. It is propagated by those who benefit from it or those who are simply uninformed. By contrast, in response to this real and significant public health burden, international consortia of automobile insurers from North America to Europe, Japan to Australia, are actively engaged in whiplash research. International conferences take place annually in Europe and the U.S., attracting researchers, clinicians, governmental representatives, manufacturers, and educators from all parts of the globe who come together to present their research and to learn from others how best to deal with this growing pandemic. Conspicuously absent from these meetings are the purveyors of the very small body of literature which suggests that true whiplash injuries are unlikely, insignificant, and primarily the product of greed and avarice.

Dr. Arthur C. Croft, one of the world’s leading scientists in the field, is the director and senior scientist at the Spine Research Institute of San Diego. He has devoted nearly three decades to researching and teaching about these conditions. He has developed a science-based training program designed to provide treating physicians (DC, DO, and MD) with the critical tools they need to successfully manage victims of motor vehicle trauma in order to achieve optimal clinical outcomes.

Whiplash and Brain injury traumatology

Graduates of this program receive the most in-depth, science-based training available today. This is the first and only multi-module program devoted to the subjects of whiplash and brain injury traumatology, which includes more than 1900 scientific papers referenced during the first two modules alone. The program covers the entire spectrum from the physics of motor vehicle crashes to human biomechanics to diagnostics and management. For an overview of the current courses, go to seminars.

Because a portion of these cases are litigated, this program also helps to develop the requisite skills for forensic presentation so that physicians can present factual and objective information about these often very complex issues to other professionals and to lay persons in a cogent and understandable format.

Annual scientific conference

The field of whiplash and brain injury traumatology changes more dramatically than most medical literature from year to year. This prompted the Annual SRISD Scientific Conferences, which is the top level of certification from SRISD and the only advanced certification program if its kind. The purpose is to review the entire year of scientific research and publication from the diverse fields of clinical medicine and automotive safety engineering, as well as the research coming directly from SRISD and its research affiliate, the Center for Research into Automotive Safety and Health, in addition to the proceedings at the various world conferences on whiplash and other related fields.

These conferences are open only to graduates of the Whiplash and Brain Injury Traumatology program, who may elect to take the comprehensive examination for Advanced Certification. Graduates with Advanced Certification are considered to be among the elite traumatology experts. If Dr. Halbert’s is not local to you, please search for an SRISD graduate in your area.